Hungary has been officially denied some $1 billion dollars in European Union funding that the bloc had frozen because of corruption allegations.
The move, confirmed in an EU statement late on December 31, was the first time that it had taken such a step against a bloc member.
Budapest made no immediate statement about the expired funds.
That amount was part of a larger sum – 19 billion euros ($19.7 billion) – that had been frozen, dating back to 2022, when Brussels began “conditionality” proceedings against Hungary.
Those proceedings blocked the disbursements of funds because of allegations that the Hungarian government had violated rules on public procurement as well as a lack of control and transparency.
Budapest made a number of reforms that allowed some funds to be unblocked, but the deadline for the release of the latest installment expired on December 31.
That meant that Hungary lost the funding, which amounted to 1.04 billion euros ($1.08 billion).
In a report released in July, the European Commission said that Hungary did not meet EU democratic standards, specifically regarding political financing, conflicts of interest, and media independence.
Not yet but i feel like we are approaching it. They have been in power since 2010, can change the constitution on a whim and are known to cheat elections. Theres a single party that i think can maybe beat them. They kinda figured out that you cant oppose far-rights by playing their games so they call themselves centre-rights but a lot of stuff they say is really actually left wing. But i still dont like them because they say a lot of actually right wing stuff. Still gonna vote for them so maybe we can beat fidesz. Well see i guess.